Introduction

Transformation is the key to my work. The transformation of the materials I work with is intimately bound with an inner personal transformation. The sculptures are based on my experience of movement, dance and meditation.

I work close to the edge of the unconscious, spontaneously like dancing. Recognising ideas for sculpture in a squiggle or a found natural form, I develop them by drawing and making playful hand-size pieces. Often the sculptures are more aerial than earthbound, defying gravity and the weight of the material itself. They define a tension between the upward [heavenly] and the downward [earthly]: a tension we all have in ourselves, between our unbounded inner self and our ego. The sculptures are intended to enable the viewer to become more centred and make contact with their own sense of being.

– Janis Ridley

 

Perched on a rock, preparing for his assent,
Icarus is powerful and at peace.
Birdlike as his chest and feathers expand,
transforming and discovering his inner strength.
Connecting with body and spirit he realises, he is nature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Icarus bronze edition of 9, 2007
H.145cm/57” L.95cm/37.5” D.92cm/36”

Viewing at Pride of the Valley Sculpture
Park, Jumps Road, Farnham. Tues–Sun, 10-5